Interview with B.G. of Getting Through Anxiety

We did the interview by email so it’s kind of a Q and A type of interview. There is so much in store for all the readers/followers/and bloggers out there reading this. I am thrilled that B.G. agreed to do this interview with me because I have wanted to for a long time. Let’s start with a piece B.G. wrote about the blog.

“Hi. My name is B.G. and I created by blog, Getting Through Anxiety, a little over two years ago. I’ve struggled with anxiety for several years now and after my dad and therapist recommended that I write about my anxiety, I decided to do so. Through struggling with anxiety, I have learned how difficult it can be to deal with a mental health issue.

While I created this blog in hopes of helping myself with my anxiety, it has done that and so much more. In addition to being able to write down my feelings and experiences, I’ve been able to ‘meet’ others online who struggle with similar issues. Many of these individuals have become great friends and we’ve been able to share both our struggles and accomplishments with each other. I’ve found that when dealing with anxiety, support and education is key.

In addition to writing about my experiences with anxiety, I also enjoy writing poetry and sharing some of my sketches. I have always enjoyed writing and I love to be able to help others through such a great medium.”

First and foremost I would like to thank B.G. for sharing with us a bit about the blog Getting Through Anxiety. I feel there is so much more to this blog than meets the eye. Let’s get started with some questions.

B.G., on your about page you talk about how your blog is a way for you to share your experiences with anxiety and offer any advice you think is helpful to those who struggle with similar issues. I myself struggle with anxiety and it can be difficult at times. What is something that you feel not only helps you with your anxiety but could also help others dealing with anxiety?

I think the most important thing when dealing with anxiety is to remember that different methods help different people. Not every method is guaranteed to help every single individual.

However, in my experience, I think the best way to deal with anxiety is to use exposure therapy; to expose yourself in small manageable steps to things that you find anxiety-inducing. For example, if standing in line makes you anxious, you could slowly stand in shorter lines for short periods of time and then slowly increase the amount of time you do so.

I also think that finding positive distractions to focus on is essential when conquering anxiety. I know for me, I worry about a lot of irrational things. If I’m not concentrating on my anxiety, I’m not feeling the symptoms.

Below is a picture with random words and a quote that you created yourself. On your blog you have a page for all your quotes, images, and drawings that you created yourself.

This is one of my favorite ones. What is your favorite quote and what made you create this particular picture?

My favorite quote that I made up is, “Fear is a liar. The best weapon against it is the truth.” This is my favorite because anxiety is always trying to convince me that I am unable to do things. I know though that this isn’t true.

I created the above picture and quote because I feel that as long as you’re working hard on a consistent basis to get through your obstacles, there is no reason to worry about the future. I know this can be a hard thing to do sometimes, but I really believe that if we work our hardest, we can get through our obstacles.

The top of the image includes all of the things that will lead to success, progress, etc. and the words on the bottom of the image illustrates the effects that working hard will have on us.

Next I would like to talk about the other blog, Battle of Mind. There is a page on your blog that links to this blog for everyone to read. The link is https://blog.battleofmind.com. One of my favorite posts on this blog is OVERTHINKING-How to break the cycle. Could you please share some of your points you made in this post that you find helpful?

While I didn’t create the blog, Battle of Mind, I have contributed some guest posts and did write that particular post.

I find thinking about something positive, doing something positive, realizing that negative thoughts make things worse, and reminding yourself that irrational thoughts are irrational important steps to overcoming overthinking. Overthinking is such an issue for anxiety sufferers and it can lead to so much unnecessary stress. By thinking and doing something positive, we are concentrating on something we enjoy instead of something that causes us anxiety. Doing something constructive with our time helps us to do something helpful instead of harmful.

Additionally, we need to realize that concentrating on our negative thoughts only makes us feel like they are real. So many of our thoughts are just that-thoughts. Sometimes we spend so much time thinking negatively that we actually bring anxiety upon ourselves. Something else that is really important is to remind ourselves that when we think irrational thoughts, they have no real substance. We need to keep reminding ourselves that we are stronger than our anxiety.

I love the post, “Ideas for tracking progress.” I love the positivity about this post. It reminds us to stay positive about dealing with anxiety and moving forward. You gave some great suggestions but one I would like to talk about is, Write daily progress reports. Someone dealing with anxiety or other mental health issue, how would you suggest someone do this with all that life has going on a daily basis? Since I deal with anxiety myself I love the idea of daily progress reports but not sure how to get started.

This is an excellent question. While I admit that it’s not always easy to keep up with, I find that an excellent idea is to set our phone alarms if we can to go off and remind us to practice facing our fears in some way. This can be by taking small steps to overcome our anxiety either by using exposure therapy or by doing helpful stretches and exercises.

Each time we take a step towards getting through our anxiety, we can write down the time and what we did. This way we can look back and see what progress we made. Also, if we didn’t do much one day, we can figure out what we should do the next day so that we can improve.

I am a big advocate for mental health awareness. What are your feelings or thoughts on this subject? What would you say to the non-believers?

I think that educating others on mental health is extremely important. There are so many individuals that struggle with mental health issues and who have family or friends who don’t understand. For any people out there who don’t believe their loved ones struggle, I ask that you please have an open mind and heart. Some people are really struggling and lending a helping hand might help that person immensely.

I wanted to touch on all the awards that you have received and the few you have created. First, congratulations. Some of the awards your blog (and you) have received are: Liebster award, Sunshine Blogger award, The Versatile blogger award, Dragon’s Loyalty award, The Epically Awesome award for EPIC AWESOMENESS, Blogger Recognition award, The Creative blogger award, The Shine and be Awesome award, The INFINITY DREAMS award, The SANDYCADEMY award, The Miranda sings award, and the Spirit Animal award. That is one heck of a list! What do you think contributes to getting nominated for these awards? What are some suggestions you have to all the readers (bloggers) for their blog?

First of all, thank you!

Honestly, I think that I get nominated for awards because people enjoy reading my blog and feel that they can connect with my experiences. I’ve said this before, but I never imagined I’d meet so many lovely people and that so many individuals struggle with mental health issues. However, I have learned that there are a great deal of people who are seeking help and who have a lot of wonderful advice and talents to share.

I think what makes a good blog is one that is written by someone who is honest and who genuinely cares about their readers and about the subject that they are writing about. I think good blogs and bloggers try to connect with their readers and offer kindness and understanding.

You have also created awards. They are: The Quotable Blogger award, The Kind blogger award, The Amazing Talented Bloggers award, and the B.G. Getting Through Anxiety Talent Blog challenge. What made you create these awards and challenge?

I started out creating awards because I thought they were a really cool way to show appreciation for other blogs and bloggers. I guess I just wanted to be a part of the creation process. Also, I started noticing that a lot of people don’t think that they’re talented, which is far from the truth. That’s why I created the B.G. Getting Through Anxiety Talent Challenge.

You nominated all your readers/followers/bloggers community for the Amazing Talented Bloggers award. What do your followers need to do to complete and accept this award?

Well, they don’t have to but the reason I nominated everyone is because I think that every blogger is creative. Creating a blog is a really amazing thing to do and I think it requires some creativity, especially to make it successful.

You also nominated everyone for the B.G. Getting Through Anxiety Talent Blog challenge. I have included the link to the post announcing this challenge. It will show readers what to do to participate. Here is the link: https://gettingthroughanxiety.wordpress.com/2016/03/10/introducing/

I know I plan on participating in both the challenge and award! Thank you for creating these. They are both great!

You’re very welcome!

I want to include something fun about you and your blog. What is your dream vacation?

I’d love to go to Italy! The artwork there is amazing and my grandma was Sicilian.

Lastly, the quote on your about page, “A world without goals is like life without water-DRY, STALE, and IMPOSSIBLE to LIVE WITHOUT.” Could you leave us with a goal(s) you have or goals we could all work on?

Well my main goal is to get through my anxiety and learn to manage it better. I also want to be a professional writer one day. I think everyone’s goal in life is just to be happy, healthy, and kind.

That ends this interview with B.G. the author of https://gettingthroughanxiety.wordpress.com blog. Thank you B.G. for taking your time to do this interview. I greatly appreciate it and hope all the readers enjoyed it as much as I did!

About jenmotivates12

I am a very outgoing, loving, caring, motivated, mother, writer, and so much more. I started this blog to motivate and share my thoughts and writings. I also wanted to make awareness of health issues along with staying positive about health and other topics. I wanted to see if anyone would even read my posts and/or follow my blog. My second goal is to take this blog to the next level. I want to start a business and be a motivational speaker for any situation. I want to have sessions that can cater to businesses, single parents, team building, couples, divorces or widowed, teens, medical issues, I think you see what I'm saying. I want to write short books that can enlighten, empower, motivate, encourage, teach, and help. Basically, I want to make a difference in others lives and help people see how the impossible can become possible with enough hard work and dedication.

Reblogged this on Getting Through Anxiety and commented:
Jen from Motivation for Today’s Reality was kind enough to interview me! She asked some wonderful questions. Please visit her great blog! She’s so kind and talented!

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Ms. Jennifer and her availability

I try to be available on a daily basis. If you want to chat one on one please email me first at: jenmotivates12@gmail.com and we will go from there. Remember good or bad, I am always open to suggestions.